First things first, this is America – you can’t just show up. You’re best sorting yourself an ESTA before you fly:
An application costs $21 and if you’ve been a good little boy/girl you should get approved on the day you apply – but be sensible and sort it out in the weeks before you go in case there are issues. Also, only certain nationalities can apply for an ESTA – everyone else will have to apply for a proper visa.
Arriving at New York JFK means the most sensible way to get to Manhattan is via public transport. I suppose the most glorious way is to order yourself a classic yellow cab, but after the disastrous couple of days we’d had, I just didn’t fancy handing over a minimum of $70 when we could get to Times Square for a fraction of that.
As soon as you leave the terminal there are airport staff calling out through the horn honking (you’ll get used to that in New York), directing you to the free buses that will take you to Terminal 8 and the AirTrain.
For Times Square, you want to get the AirTrain Jamaica Station – a terminus on the New York City Subway. This trip cost us $8 each and you pay at the end of the journey.
Fortunately when we arrived at Jamaica Station, the station staff decided to open all the exit gates, with calls of “this trip is free, you can go!” That was nice.
However, Aimee and I still needed to buy MTA cards (Metro cards) to use the subway. For some reason, the machines in the walls would not read my Starling card, nor my Lloyds card when I tried it out of desperation. Perhaps they don’t accept debit cards? I couldn’t pay contactless either. There were ATMs available but they charged $4 per withdrawal and I was fed up of wasting money. But we had no choice after countless card failures. I withdrew my first $100 and paid the machine $11 for four journeys plus $1 for a new metro card.
TOP TIP:
When withdrawing cash at an ATM (and for some other payments i.e. in shops), the machine will ask you if you want to withdraw WITH currency conversion or WITHOUT currency conversion – ALWAYS CHOOSE WITHOUT.
FYI. A trip on the subway will cost you $2.75, wherever you’re going. All subway stations have the machines where you can top up your metro card, but be careful as they have a limit on the amount of change they will give back: $9. So paying for one trip with a $20 bill will cost you $11.
In short, the ticket machines don’t accept debit card and don’t always give you back all your change. And this is supposed to be the most advanced nation in the world… Lol…
Stressed but finally with metro cards we headed down to Jamaica subway station. I swiped my metro card and duly got stuck in the turnstile – it wasn’t big enough for my suitcase and me. So, right in front of two NYPD cops, I pushed through my suitcase and not wanting to swipe again and risk paying again, I vaulted the turnstile like a movie star. In my head I looked cool, but to the cops I probably just looked like a fat, cumbersome tourist as I walked away, cursing this city. Thankfully, they didn’t shoot me.
It was a 45 minute journey from Jamaica to Time Square, with a change from the blue E line to the N/R/W yellow line at Queens Plaza. I suggest downloading a subway map – it’s very useful when you don’t have signal. Also, when you’re getting on a train make sure it’s going in the right direction!
At 4pm New York time, 9pm British time, after 18 hours of travelling, we arrived in Times Square.
Yay, finally something worth photographing!
Our hotel was just off Times Square – the Millennium Hotel Broadway Times Square. On arrival, they took a $500 deposit off me for the 5 nights we’d be there – which would be refunded when we checked out – minus $35 per night in tax.
Oh yes, the joys of tax not being included in your bill – many had warned us of this. It’s a common theme in America, and after already having to pay myself for two extra nights because Icelandair sent me to New York rather than Reykjavik (still waiting on the refund for our Icelandic hotel), I was oh so happy to dish out more dollars.
So including tax, it’s $160 a night to stay at the Millennium and you’re definitely paying for the location, not room quality. The room we stayed in wasn’t much better than the room at the Clayton Hotel outside Manchester Airport – and there was no kettle.
I can honestly say when I left my suitcase by the wardrobe and slumped onto a chair in our room, I was a bit fed up of this holiday.
But with suitcases now in the room, we thought we may as well have another look at the bright lights of Times Square.
We had been warned about these guys.
You would be forgiven for thinking a troupe including Spider-Man, Minnie Mouse and Elmo would be friendly, but these guys are only looking to rip you off. If you stand just for a moment with your camera phone out, they’ll approach you asking if you want a photo – it’s terrifying having some 5 ft talking mouse appear at your side.
Only after the photo is taken will they demand at least $5 from you, per character. There have been stories of these childhood icons verbally/physically assaulting tourists, groping young girls and straight up mugging people. AVOID.
Walking deeper into Times Square, we saw our first bit of classic New York steam coming out of the ground.
It’s like the movies!
After watching a street dancing group for a bit (they were a bit boring and spent most of the time trying to get the crowd to come in closer), we decided to go for our first quintessentially American meal.
I can confirm that large American Big Mac meal is larger than a large British Big Mac meal. Aimee had a spicy chicken burger which I tried and was very jealous of. Sadly, she managed to finish it all.
We googled decent bars to visit around Times Square and we kept finding a place called Jimmy’s Corner – which happened to right opposite our hotel on 44th Street.
Literally metres off of Times bloody Square, this was BY FAR the cheapest bar we found in New York.
A pint cost $3. Aimee’s Malibu and coke (with a very generous amount of rum) cost $4. Absolutely banging. Literally up the road and around the corner there was a bar selling Yuengling for $8. Absolute madness.
The only issue with Jimmy’s is its size. It’s tiny, with enough room for a row of people sat at the bar and a narrow walkway behind. But the staff were very friendly and kept us topped up when our drinks were near empty.
I enjoyed my first American bar.
Anyhow, it was nearly 7pm – which meant we’d been awake for 21 and a half hours. On our first night in the City That Never Sleeps, we were in bed by 7:15pm, hoping for some better days to come…
#VidOnTour 